Sunday, May 26, 2013

Harper leaves game, status in question

Photo by the Associated Press

Bryce Harper left Sunday’s game against the Phillies in the bottom of the seventh after aggravating his sore left knee earlier in the day when sliding head-first. He banged his knee while stealing third base in the first inning and afterwards walked with a visible limp until he was replaced.

Manager Davey Johnson said he expects the outfielder to miss several days, but when asked about whether he would miss time Harper replied with an emphatic ‘no.’

Harper’s knee was also bothered by a foul ball he hit in the third inning as it tipped right off his leg, a play he called “icing on the cake.” He said the injury is something that may not go away any time soon, and perhaps not until the season is over.

“I probably won’t get better until the offseason,” he said. “So I’ll just have to deal with the pain and try to keep in there every day and we’ll see what happens.”

Harper was eventually replaced by Roger Bernadina on base after drawing a walk, but not to his delight. The reigning N.L. Rookie of the Year had no intention of leaving the game and said he did not update the training staff or manager Davey Johnson of his status.

“I just tell [the trainers] to go away from me,” Harper said. “I don’t want to talk to them during the game. If I have a problem, I’ll go to Skip. If I don’t, then I’m not going to talk to anybody about it.”

Harper went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout, drawing the free pass in his fourth at-bat. It was in the seventh and the Nat’s offense had woken up by scoring five runs, but Harper wanted one more shot at a pitcher he has a history with.

“I swing it pretty well against [Cole] Hamels every time I face him, so I really wanted to stay in there against him,” he said.

Harper originally injured the knee when he ran into the wall at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles chasing a fly ball on May 13. Harper has missed three games due to the injury already and could potentially miss more.

Either way, Harper will have to deal with the pain and it seems to particularly be a problem when he slides. Harper says it makes no difference if he slides head first or with his feet, it’s going to hurt.

“I’m gonna feel it either way. It doesn’t matter. I mean, if I slide feet-first or slide head-first, I don’t think that’s gonna help it if anything.”

Apparently Showalter went all in for the game against the Jays. Here are the pitch counts of the three relievers.

Matusz 24, Hunter 28, Johnson, J 37. Johnson also pitched yesterday, you have to figure he won't be available. Our record against Hammel is not good, their bullpen has been bad. In May they are last in MLB with an ERA of 5.65 (before today), that's worse than the Astros.

Had some Filly girls next to me, I got a little, excited when the Nats were taking it to Colbert, they just shrugged, and left when the 8th inning started.

Someone asked why use Clip. I thought about that on the Metro, came up with several reasons.

(1) He was already warmed. (He warmed when it looked like Stras might be in trouble). (2) Thinking back on spring training, the ideal use for Clip might be as near as possible to alternate days, so he is sharp but not over-used.(3) Sometimes you just want to let your reliever have a stress free appearance, and your team finish out a game without having to worry about Henry, Storen, Duke, etc. Just nail the win and go home.

“I just tell [the trainers] to go away from me,” Harper said. “I don’t want to talk to them during the game. If I have a problem, I’ll go to Skip. If I don’t, then I’m not going to talk to anybody about it.”

Great. A once-in-a-generation talent beating himself to death. An electrifying player who, today, looked all too average. He was slower on the basepaths and was obviously missing some power at the plate.

I love Harper to death, but this "Leave me alone; I know what's best for me" attitude doesn't help the team. That was Nyjer Morgan's creed, IIRC.

So what do we do with Marrero? Trade?Wouldn't get anything for him. He can only play first or DH. --------------------That means Seattle would probably be interested, since they seem to want to corner the market in DH/1B-men.

He only looked slow after the slide into third. He got to second on the error very quickly...maybe a half step slower than usual but fine. The knee is probably going to bother him all year. He said that. He can play through pain. As long as there's no risk of serious injury, he'll keep playing. Obviously when it becomes hard for him to run and he's limping, that's too much and that's why he got taken out. But he can't sit on the bench all year.

The Nats top brass should have learned from the Redskins! MAKE and I mean MAKE Bryce take a week off and get well. We don't need him going down the same road as RG III. Why take a chance on jeopardizing his career. It seems we are always letting the kids tell the adults what they are going to do. Everyone needs to look out what best for Bryce. He can have a long and great career or a break down career in the future.

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About the Author

Mark Zuckerman has covered the Nationals since the franchise arrived in D.C. He's been a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America since 2001 and is a Hall of Fame voter. Email mzuckerman@comcastsportsnet.com.